Singer Kailash Kher marks his birthday by fulfilling a promise to promote new talent

Singer-songwriter Kailash Kher, who’ll be introducing two music bands on his birthday (July 7), says that he never got the right support when he came to Mumbai, and believes that promoting new talent will rejuvenate the entire music industry.

Singer Kailash Kher turns 45 on July 7, and that’s also the day when he’s launching two new bands.

The “intense struggle” of his early days in Mumbai — a big city where no one would help a new arrival — made singer-songwriter Kailash Kher determined not only to succeed despite all odds, but also to offer a hand to those who’d come after him. Now, 12 years after the release of his debut album Kailasa (2006) took the music industry by storm, Kailash is established as one of the top musicians in India, and is set to fulfil that promise — he’ll be launching two bands, Sparsh and AR Divine, to coincide with his 45th birthday, on July 7. The name of this initiative is Nayi Udaan.

“Main jab aaya tha, mereko kisi ne aake support nahi kiya tha. Mera koi mai-baap nahi tha, aur bahot struggle aur mushkilo se guzarne ke baad, mereko logon ne sunna shuru kiya (When I had come, no one supported me. I had no backers, and only after going through a lot of struggle and difficulties did people start listening to my music). It was then, during my struggle, that I had decided that if I become popular, I’ll help upcoming musicians, and provide them with a platform to establish themselves,” says the singer.

Helping new artists to establish themselves would help not only those artists but also the music industry as a whole, says Kailash, who feels that the industry is “stuck in the rut of recreating old songs”. He says, “Aajkal mahol music ke liye achha nahi hai. Koi naya music banata nahi hai. Sab purane gaane ko lekar recreate kare ja rahe hain. Jab recreate hi hota rahega to naya music hoga hi nahi (Today’s music industry is in a shambles. Everyone is recreating old classics, and there will soon be a day when there will be no new music). So promoting new talent, new musicians not only will help my conscience, but also introduce new music, and new musical styles,” says the singer, whose recent chart-toppers include the song Kaun Hai Woh from Baahubali: The Beginning (2015), picturised on the film’s lead, Prabhas.

Kailash isn’t the one to worry about whether promoting new talent might hamper his own career in the future. He says, “If you think from that perspective, and be insecure about yourself as an artist, then I’m afraid you will not survive in the industry, at all. I know that none of the musicians or singers in the industry have supported a new musician precisely because of this reason, but I’m not them and I’m not going to be worried that some newbie musician today will ruin my career in the future. I’m confident about music, equally passionate about it, and as long as I’m doing that, there’s no reason to be afraid of anyone.”